Finally
by rueswhistling
Summary: Spencer Hastings has just moved to Rosewood from Philadelphia, bringing secrets with her that she's determined to keep to herself. Toby Cavanaugh has secrets himself, some including his not-so-loving girlfriend. When the two are partnered in French class, they slowly begin to learn about each other, while trying to keep their growing feelings a secret as well. AU Spoby Multichapter


_AN: Hey! Thanks for coming to check out my story :) this is an AU multichapter which means there is no A or Alison. Also, Toby and Jenna are not step-siblings. I'm only 4 seasons into PLL, as I'm watching it on Netflix, but I hope I'm as accurate as possible! If you have any questions on what's different in this alternate universe, just review with your questions or send me a PM! I freaking love Spoby so much so I hope I do them justice in this story! Hope you enjoy!_

Chapter 1:

Everything Has Changed

~_inspired by the song by Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran~_

_Spencer_

I could almost feel the shaking in the walls from the banging of pots and pans, combined with my parent's arguing. I was hoping that the move would calm their battles; maybe perfecting a new house would distract them from their unhappy marriage but it seems unlikely now.

I was happy to move when my mother announced her new job in Rosewood. I didn't have many close friends at my old school in Philadelphia and moving also meant I could get even further from _him_; the name was still too painful to say. But I was also beginning to realize what moving to a new school at the beginning of senior year meant. Senior year of high school was a celebration. You're finally finishing a 13 year quest to independence, all while already having found your group of people who get you best and knowing what you're passionate about. You weren't supposed to have to worry about finding people who will let you in. I sighed as I straightened my necklace in the mirror. _Just try to be outgoing and friendly, _I told myself. _So, in other words, try not to be you. _

My mother looked up briefly when I came down the stairs. She smacked my father's arm to shut up his continuation of the argument, but I knew it would start up again as soon as I left.

"Hello, Spencer," my mother said formally. "Are you well prepared for your first day? Have all your books?"

"Yes, Mother," I replied in the same tone. "I'll be fine." I grabbed a piece of toast from the counter and headed straight for the door. "See you later tonight."

I could hear my father's voice already begin to rise again as soon as the door slammed shut behind me. I rolled my eyes as I set the car in reverse and began to back out of the driveway. The radio was playing an obnoxious pop song and the world was starting to spin from my nerves, so I almost didn't catch the large brown truck pulling out of the driveway across the street. "Shoot," I said, slamming on the brakes as the truck did the same. I tried to wave the person in the truck on, but I couldn't see through their tinted windshield and they obviously couldn't see me. Well, I wasn't go to risk starting to pull out again, to only back straight into them. Finally, they cautiously pulled out and proceeded down the road. I sighed and closed my eyes, resting my head against the seat for a second. That would not have been a good way to start the day. After a moment of breathing, I took my foot off of the brake and slowly started towards my new school, hoping today wouldn't be disastrous.

The school was bigger than I expected. Of course, it wasn't as large as my old school, which was located in the heart of Philadelphia, but this school seemed oddly vast for such a small town. And there were so many kids; I never thought I had to prepare for all the stares in the hallway as "the new girl". I clutched my notebooks to my chest and longed to keep my eyes on my feet as I stumbled down the hall, but I had to keep an eye on the room numbers. _Room 205, 207, 209… _and finally, room 211, Biology, Mrs. Peters. I took a deep breath before walking through the arch of the door, trying to look confident when I really felt like running the opposite direction. I didn't know where to sit; all of these people probably had friends they were waiting for and were going to hate me for taking their seats. I stood to the side, mouth agape, as I tried to find a good solution. _Please, please have the teacher come in soon. Let her just tell me where to sit. Please. _I continued pleading with fate in my head when I realized someone had directed a question towards me. "Wait, what?" I asked the tall, dark haired girl who was now peering at me, as if concerned for my mental health. Great.

She just smiled. "You looked overwhelmed. I was just asking if you wanted to sit by me," she asked patiently. She nodded towards a desk with two lab stools.

"Oh," I stated, relief pouring into my whole body. "Yes, yes, I would," I said, now smiling. "Thank you so much."

The tanned girl just continued to grin, and led me towards the desk. "I'm Emily, by the way. I assume you're new?" she asked. I nodded and she joined the action. "Yeah, everyone here knows just about everybody else. It's unusual to see a new face. But your name is?"

"Spencer," I answered. "Spencer Hastings. I'm from Philly," I explained. "You don't know how thankful I am you came up to me. I was excited to move to Rosewood, but I haven't quite gotten used to being the new girl."

"Why would you be excited to move to Rosewood from Philly? There's so much more to do in the city!" she chimed. I didn't want to tell her about _him_, so I tried to come up with a quick excuse, but the teacher came in. Finally, some good timing. Emily dropped the question as the teacher began to give the typical first day talk. About 5 minutes into the class, I heard the shuffle of paper against desk and turned to see a note being pushed towards me. '_**Do you want to sit by me and my friends during lunch? I mean, if you haven't already stolen a million hearts by now who will want to see you :)' **_I smiled to myself and wrote my answer. '_**I guess I'll just start my reputation as a heartbreaker. I'd love to sit by you!' **_Emily's reply only seemed to take a second. '_**Meet me by the courtyard and I'll show you where we sit.' **_Relieved to have a major thing off of my worry list, I smiled at Emily and she returned it. I think I'll be okay.

* * *

_Toby_

Jenna smiled at me across the lunch table, carefully spinning her pasta around her fork. I pretended not to notice her while hoping our friends would get here soon.

"Oh, Toby," she said, when she noticed my eyes drifting to anywhere but her. "You can't still be mad at me for last night? I was just trying to tell you the truth. You can't-," she tried to continue but I didn't want to hear anymore.

"No, Jenna, spare me the twisted apology. Just, please, leave me alone until Caleb and the rest get here, okay?" I replied, twisting to look over my shoulder. Where were they?

"Well, that's no way to treat your girlfriend," she pouted, but her eyes were turning dark like they always did before she decides to strike.

"Well, what you did last night was no way to treat your boyfriend," I said, but I was growing wary as her whole face hardened into a sneer. She opened her mouth, but snapped it shut as a hand slapped my shoulder.

"Hey, Caleb!" Jenna greeted, her happy, innocent face back in place.

"Hey, Jenna. Toby," he nodded at me. I returned the nod, so happy to see my friend as he slid on to the bench next to me. Noel, Jake, and Mona all gathered around the table as well. Jenna and Mona started talking about the outfits the saw in the hallway and their new teachers, while I turned my head to talk to Caleb, but he was clearly focused on something at a table across the courtyard. Or someone, actually. Jenna apparently noticed, too.

"Caleb," she said in a scolding, motherly tone. "You should stop staring at Hanna Marin. You know we don't talk to _those_ girls."

"What's wrong with them?" Jake asked. He had just moved to Rosewood at the end of last year and wasn't quite familiar with all of our hatred towards the girls yet. "They're all pretty hot, actually. I say go for it, Caleb."

Jenna's glare across the table shut him up. He turned to Noel, as if asking what he said wrong when Jenna clued him in. "Those girls are coldhearted snobs who will slice your heart out and eat in for lunch," she said, a smile creeping back on to her face. "You wouldn't want that to happen to poor Caleb, would you?"

The color was drained from Jake's face as he shook his head and kept it trained on his sandwich. Caleb's face was bright red from the stir he had caused, so he kept his mouth shut and Jenna and Mona continued their conversation as if nothing had happened. We all made a point not to look over at their table for the rest of the period.

Finally, the last period of my last first day of high school. French.

I don't even know why I took French again this year; I had been planning to quit all of last year but I just couldn't bring myself to it. The classroom was familiar, the teacher was nice, and not many people stuck through 4 years of it, so it was a fairly small class. I walked into the classroom to find most of the students there already, sitting in random seats and talking. I walked over to my old seat from last year and waited for the bell to ring, when a tall, brown-haired girl walked into the room. She looked nervously around the classroom and then picked a desk in the back corner, closest to the door. So, this must be the newest student at Rosewood High. I had heard whispers about a new girl circling around my other classrooms but this was the first period I'd shared with her. She looked studious as she straightened her pens and notebook on the desk and with no one around her making an effort to include her into their conversations, so she looked at the clock, tapping her foot. Half of me wanted to go over and say hey, just so she wouldn't look so alone. I knew some people at school found me unapproachable but I was generally a pretty well-liked guy. But the other half of me didn't want to freak her out; it might be strange for me to walk all the way across the room just to say hi. And what was I supposed to do when I got there? Kneel down next to her desk? Stand over her? I was talking myself out of the idea when her head turned and her gaze was directed towards me. Her caramel colored eyes were staring into my own, and now I got a full look at her face. Her mouth was set in a straight line, like she was nervous, but it wasn't unattractive. Her skin was fair and her cheeks slightly rosy, with a strong angular nose. I kicked myself inside- _she's staring right at you! Just smile!- _when the teacher walked in and the girl tore her gaze from mine to look at our elder.

"Hello, class," Ms. Matthews said. "I see we've all found a seat, but don't get too comfortable; I'll be changing them in a second. In French class, we sit so that the person across from you is your assigned partner. You'll work with them on class assignments and projects, as well as just speaking to them in French for practice. Now let me just get the seating chart…," she muttered as she paced back to her desk. I had Mona as my partner last year in French, so I never had to do much, but I had no idea who I'd get this year. "Ah, okay, here it is!" she exclaimed, snatching up her paper. "We'll start with Jeff Anderson and-". I tuned out the long list of names until I heard my own. "-and Toby Cavanaugh over here, to the right." I looked up to see Ms. Matthews pointing to a set of desks. She must have seen the confused look in my eye so she repeated herself. "Spencer Hastings and Toby Cavanaugh?" My brow wrinkled as I tried to match a face to the name. Spencer Hastings? My brain clicked when I realized that there was only one person who's name I didn't know in this class. My eyes focused back on my assigned desk and there she was in the partner desk, her caramel eyes staring at me curiously. I then realized the whole class was looking at me curiously because I _still hadn't moved_. '_Smooth move,' _I could practically hear Caleb saying. I quickly picked up my books and sat down next to her, finally giving her a smile. She smiled back, but quickly looked back down at her desk. Ms. Matthews starting talking about French again, how we would focus on conversational French this year, so there would be a lot of partner discussion activities. I didn't know how excited Spencer was for that, but I was fine with it.

"You can all take the rest of the period to get to know your partner. Just make sure to get the syllabus signed for Wednesday," Ms. Matthews said, already making her way back to her desk to sit. I turned to Spencer who was nervously tapping her finger on the desk and looking the opposite direction. Okay, I didn't know I was that scary of a person.

"So, Spencer, where did you move here from?" I asked, trying to at least get her to talk to me.

"Um, I'm from Philadelphia," she stated shortly, without looking up. I scanned across the room to see all of the other partners easily conversing.

"Did you take French there?" I asked, even though the answer was pretty obvious and going to be short.

"Yep," she said. I was right.

I decided to make one last attempt before giving up. "Um, do you have any hobbies? What do you like to do?" I asked, not expecting much of an answer.

"Well, I like reading and I play the piano," she replied.

"Oh, that's cool. I play the- I mean I like carpentry," I stuttered, trying to cover up my mistake. Spencer looked up, eyebrows crinkled.

"Wait, so do you play an instrument?" she asked. Dang it.

"Um, no, I don't. No," I mumbled. Now it was my turn to look at my hands.

"But you started to say that you played-" Spencer tried. At least I got her talking. Now I wished she'd stop.

"Nope, don't play anything. I do wood working mostly. Why'd you move to Rosewood?" I asked, trying to get the attention off of me, when the bell rang. Spencer smiled at me before grabbing her books and heading out the door. When she really smiled, she shined. I sighed and ran my hands through my hair, then grabbed my books and headed the same way.

I didn't know how Spencer made me feel but I had a feeling it was going to get me in trouble.

* * *

_AN: Ahhhh yay you read the whole thing! Thank you so much! If you enjoyed or have questions or anything please please review! I know everyone says this but reviews and follows truly make me write faster because then I know people actually want me to update! I don't have a set update day where I'll for sure update but I'll try to as soon as possible! I'm so excited to write this story and I hope you like it :) Bye for now! _


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